International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers sets out vision

The UAE has signed the IFI Interiors Declaration (IFI ID), a mission statement on the purpose and value of the interior architecture and design discipline. The UAE was the first country in the Middle East to sign the Declaration.

The statement was signed in Dubai during the recent IFI Congress, which was hosted and organised by the Association of Professional Interior Designers (APID). Marwan Abdullah Al Mohammed, Head of Engineering of Dubai Municipality and Steve Leung, IFI Past-President, were the signatories.

The vision of the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) asserts that interiors optimally support humanity in all of its functions and activities. The Declaration is described by IFI as a “unanimous agreement that establishes the essential foundations for the interiors discipline and its advancement worldwide.”

A spokesperson for APID said: “The Declaration is a commitment that the government works together with IFI to serve the design community in Dubai. The partnership will seek to promote [the] economy, improve living environmental quality and achieve sustainable development, cultural creativity and more.”

IFI said: “The ideas contained in the Declaration provide clear goals for interiors professionals and affect the fundamental understanding and shaping of our practice, its education and research, and the outcomes required of our built environment in support of humanity, society and culture.”

The IFI Interiors Declaration was first presented at ‘Design Frontiers: The Interiors Entity (DFIE) Global Symposium’, held in February 2011 in New York City.

More than 100 delegates from 30 countries attended the Symposium. They included leading design authorities, innovators, business leaders and strategic thinkers. The gathering culminated in the signing of the formal IFI ID, a first in the history of the interiors’ profession.

The full IFI Interiors Declaration can be viewed here.